Community Supported Agriculture is a business model that ensures a just, transparent and symbiotic relationship between farmer and consumer.

Introducing:

The Alprilla Farm Winter Share

For the last several years, Alprilla Farm has offered a Summer CSA to its local shareholders. We also have spent several winter seasons selling vegetables wholesale to local businesses. This year, we are excited to be adapting our winter production efforts to include an all new CSA distribution model: The 2017 Winter Share. The CSA has been and will continue to be the core of our farm, only now it will be timed to provide local food to our winter shareholder families throughout the holiday season and the cozy, dark part of the year—the very best time to be in the kitchen, we think, with hearty food at the ready. We’ve perused the seed catalogs for winter-hardy vegetables and will be growing pretty much anything that can either store well in the root cellar, hold in the field during the winter, or grow in a greenhouse in northeastern Massachusetts.

Coming Soon:

The Alprilla Farm Grain Share

The 2017 Grain Share will include whole-wheat flour, corn meal, and beans. Shareholder spots will be available soon, along with information about cost, volume, and the duration of the season. If you're interested in receiving email updates about our 2017 Grain Share, you can add your name to our mailing list by filling out the form below and specifying "Grain Share" or "All News."

How the CSA Model Works

Customers purchase a “share” of the harvest at the beginning of the season. In exchange, they come to the farm weekly to pick up their portion of the harvest.

The farmer benefits by having cash flow at the beginning of the season when expenses are greatest. Additionally, the farmer can focus on growing food instead of marketing, which makes it possible to offer food at a cost much lower than could be offered at a farmer’s market or retail venue. Shareholders get to experience a full fall and winter of the local diet and the changing mosaic of veggies available.

There are a few things that make the Alprilla Farm share stand out. We offer a volume-based, farmer's market style Winter CSA where every shareholder can fill a wooden box with the available vegetables of their choice. This tends to keep everyone happy (Love kale? Then fill up! Can't stand it? Then don't take it!), and makes it easier for us as we don't need to bunch, count out and box every share. We occasionally limit some items when demand is high and supply is not abundant (such as limiting one head of broccoli per share). Our pick-up takes place at the farm, creating a space where shareholders can connect with where their food comes from and who grows it.

Intrinsic to the CSA model is shared risk. We always plant more than we anticipate needing for our shareholders. When conditions are good, there is a bounty available and the shareholder benefits. When conditions are unfavorable, certain crops may under perform or even fail. We try to ensure that our shareholders get a good value by planting many different crops. If conditions are bad for one crop, they are probably ideal for another.

2017 Winter Share

$650 | Designed for a family of four, our Winter Share includes 15 pick-ups from October to February. The bulk of the share will be roots, tubers, bulbs and squash. We strive to diversify the options and provide fresh greens whenever possible.